AutoMRISimQA: an automated system for daily quality control of a 3T MRI simulator

A software system named AutoMRISimQA was developed to monitor the daily performance of a wide-bore 3T scanner(MRI) which was designed and dedicated to radiotherapy simulation. The system can monitor the performance of the MRI simulator not only by using image quality indices such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), uniformity, ghosting and contrast but also performing a quick check of geometry accuracy as well as the external lasers quantitatively. It was implemented into the daily clinically workflow in 2013 and has been used for more than 10 years. It was also seamlessly integrated with QAtrack, allowing continuous monitoring of the consistency of the MRI simulator's performance.